Easiest path to IFR GPS?

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Sundancer

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Sundog
Hello All,
Airplane shopping and see a lot of older "IFR" aircraft without an IFR GPS. Opinions on adding one? Probably would go with a new one, but price is important. No religious about a brand, as long as it's legal for approaches. Output to an AP would be great, but not critical.
 
The GPS175 that has already been mentioned is probably the best, budget friendly, new GPS offering available.

Don't forget to factor some sort of indicator and installation fees into the cost as well. Those likely aren't insignificant.
 
mondtster said:
The GPS175 that has already been mentioned is probably the best, budget friendly, new GPS offering available.

Don't forget to factor some sort of indicator and installation fees into the cost as well. Those likely aren't insignificant.
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Agree^^^
My buddy had a G175 and a G275 for a indicator installed for $10K. Probably the cheapest way to go? He loves it. He was a die hard ADF/VOR pilot for 40 years, took him a while to convert him to a GPS. " money well spent" he said to me.
 
Hope you are not in a hurry...everybody is out of GPS175 units until late July.
 
GPS 175 with G5 HSI and associated install, parts, etc. About $12K.
 
I'm pleased with the GNX-375. Got rid of the Clinton-administration transponder, and replaced it with a modern piece of equipment, and ADS-B in, as well as out.

The 175, from what I understand, is essentially this, without either the transponder (375) or the comm (355).

Oh, and the comm built-in to the 355 is not a nav/comm. Just a comm. I didn't know that, myself, until some time ago, and had previously assumed it was a nav/comm.
 
murphey said:
GPS 175 with G5 HSI and associated install, parts, etc. About $12K.
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texasclouds said:
Tagged, I need more Garmin in my panel.
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When I posted above that my buddy had $10K in his G175 and G275 installed, I failed to mention he already had a GTX335 installed with a GPS antenna. so his install was cheaper I imagine? This was 2 years ago.
 
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He ordered a G650, GMA345, GNC255 for a new arrow he recently bought. They told us 6 months to get the parts. The GPS and sound panel came in about 2 months and they moved his install date up. The 255 is not in yet and may take 6 months. When it comes in he will take it back to get it installed. Gonna keep one of his old coms for now.
 
Alien Mind said:
gnc355 - same as the 175 but with built in com - not to sound dramatic (...), a life changing upgrade!
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Yeah, but a GNC355 is $2k more than a GPS175 and all it adds is a COM radio. You can get a really good COM radio for $2k and not have to deal with the UI drawbacks as well as other drawbacks of combining it with the GPS.
 
asicer said:
Yeah, but a GNC355 is $2k more than a GPS175 and all it adds is a COM radio. You can get a really good COM radio for $2k and not have to deal with the UI drawbacks as well as other drawbacks of combining it with the GPS.
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I initially thought that too, but on top of the purchase price there's added installation costs for a stand alone com AND less panel space. YMMV
 
Terry M - 3CK (Chicago) said:
@asicer what does UI stand for? User Interface? I thought Garmin was pretty good at that?
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Yes, user interface.

On the GNC355, you lose the CDI and the "Flight Plan" button above it. That "Flight Plan" button can be rather useful since it can show your active leg:

Also, in many situations the knob on the GNC355 is dedicated to changing frequencies. On the GPS175 and GNX375, that knob is freed up to do other useful things like switch pages, input letters, toggling the data fields on/off, etc.
 
Alien Mind said:
I initially thought that too, but on top of the purchase price there's added installation costs for a stand alone com AND less panel space. YMMV
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I'm not sure installation costs are going to be that much more since it's the many of the same wires either way. I'll concede the space savings argument, but would like to point out that not all COM radios have to be in the rack.
 
k9medic said:
Meh...

430W with a 106A can be had for under $6000. I purchased and had mine installed along with an ADSB transponder for under $9000.
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Yes, 20-plus-year-old technology is available for less. And it’s a single product announcement letter away from being a brick.

@k9medic - I know you understand this already but the OP may not.
 
Rgbeard said:
Yes, 20-plus-year-old technology is available for less. And it’s a single product announcement letter away from being a brick.

@k9medic - I know you understand this already but the OP may not.
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True, it's a bit of a gamble for sure but unless you have a hardware failure you are good. I don't see nav updates being discontinued for a long time.
 
k9medic said:
True, it's a bit of a gamble for sure but unless you have a hardware failure you are good. I don't see nav updates being discontinued for a long time.
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Unless they want to drive obsolescence. Eh? I see this all the time in my profession.

The good news is, with a 430 now wired in the panel, when the death knell does happen, you can pull it and do a zero-install replacement with an Avidyne.
 
Rgbeard said:
Unless they want to drive obsolescence. Eh? I see this all the time in my profession.

The good news is, with a 430 now wired in the panel, when the death knell does happen, you can pull it and do a zero-install replacement with an Avidyne.
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That move on Avidyne's part was (in my opinion) brilliant! Especially since Garmin's newer gear can't be done that way.
 
What the comparison is missing is that, once they're support-bricked, they'll go 480 pricing real quick. Of course at current 430w prices nobody would do that over the 440. Most would simply send it to garmin for flat rate, certainly what I would do as a 430w owner. But that's an apples to cantaloupes comparison. Point is they won't be priced like today when garmin no longer accepts them for flat rate repair.

Database loss of support is the true death knell, but that's true for all GPS units though; moot point.
 
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